I had a lot of fun a few years ago writing about mondegreens, which are instances of misheard lyrics or other statements. Readers kept sending them to me for months, and they resulted in several columns. One of the most famous mondegreens got repeated airings during the Olympics with the TV commercial that used Jimi Hendrix and his lyric, "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky." For years, people have misheard that line as "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy." Politicians often engage in their own form of mondegreening by making statements that sound like they mean one thing but actually mean something quite different. For example, I've been criticizing new...

Related "Budgets and Budgeting" Articles

I had a lot of fun a few years ago writing about mondegreens, which are instances of misheard lyrics or other statements.
Readers kept sending them to me for months, and they resulted in several columns.
One of the most famous mondegreens got repeated...

In today's bitterly polarized environment, the Internal Revenue Service has become even more of a whipping boy for politicians as it struggles with deep budget cuts and accusations of incompetence and, some say, illegal actions.That makes the...

Over the last few years, the White House has been shrinking the budget of one of the most important agencies in the United States: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA is one of the few government programs that benefit almost every one...

The announcement that Lehigh County Commissioner Scott Ott is moving to Texas has implications that go way beyond the loss of a talented voice for local Republicans and very conservative values. It also could have an enormous impact on the direction of...

HARRISBURG — As Gov. Tom Corbett reasserts his case for changing the retirement benefits for future state and school workers, he has emphasized a connection more tangible to voters than that of state budget pressures: increases in local property...

It's a trite but true political aphorism: "Where you stand depends on where you sit." If you're a Pennsylvania Republican, no matter where you sit, it's hard to see what Gov. Corbett did with the 2014-15 budget as anything but a divisive,...

It was a time of assessment for the Parkland School Board.On Tuesday evening, board members got to hear how the 2014-15 Pennsylvania state budget will affect the school district's funding.The bottom line: Parkland will be getting several hundred...

Allentown officials responded Wednesday to accusations leveled against them by a councilwoman that money was misappropriated from the city's fire and police department budgets.Councilwoman Jeanette Eichenwald last month raised questions at a council...

A friend sent me the following joke last week. It's mildly risque, so stop reading if you think you'll be offended.
(I added that to ensure everyone will keep reading)
A circus owner runs an ad for a lion tamer and two people show up. One is a retired...

The Legislature’s annual sprint race to finish budget by the June 30 deadline officially got started Friday with the introduction of a flat-line spending bill for 2014-15.
If you want to know what’s inside it, look at the current 2013-14 budget. It’s...

I'm sure you're familiar with the expression "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater."
A popular forwarded email that began circulating in the late '90s purported to explain the origins of that and other familiar expressions, all dating...

On June 5, The Morning Call published a story detailing closed-door budget discussions among Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration and Republican House and Senate leaders.
The story was based on a June 3 memo prepared by Republican House Appropriations staff...

Paul and Mary Wozniak were perfectly suited as audience to Northampton County Executive John Brown, who targets his message to taxpayers and county employees.The couple, East Allen Township residents and county employees, were among a handful of...

A story in Sunday's editions of the Morning Call (read it here) looked at Penn State's athletic-department budgets, which saw a deficit of nearly $6 million for fiscal year 2013. The athletic department attributed that to factors such as lower ...

Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said he’s still “haunted” by the Republicans’ failed presidential campaign and warned against their losing the debate on federal spending.
Toomey crisscrossed the state as a loyal footsoldier for Mitt...

For the first time in four years, the Senate will debate a budget resolution that will allow Pennsylvania's senators and their colleagues to offer an unlimited number of amendments that will, if nothing else, highlight their legislative priorities.
Sens....

Beginning today, The Morning Call will kick off a series of occasional stories taking a comprehensive look at how the Affordable Care Act will change health care and how Pennsylvanians access it. We will provide useful information to aid you in navigating...

For the second time in his short Senate career, Sen. Pat Toomey is on a high-stakes committee with a formidable task.
As part of the deal to reopen the government after the 16-day shutdown this month and raise the debt ceiling, a select group of 29...

Sen. Pat Toomey's goals for this round of budget talks are more modest than when he drafted a long-term deficit reduction plan on the super committee.
Wednesday is the first public meeting of 29 lawmakers, including Toomey, working the rest of the year...